Narcoleptic Insomnia
by KarasumaFirestorm
Summary: Kira is overtired for no apparent reason, and passes out in the middle of a battle, leaving Conner to clean up the mess. CK. (complete)
1. 1

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

I've never done one of these before; bear with me.

* * *

Kira jolted upright in bed. Her head was hazy, and she wasn't sure what had roused her, until a blinking yellow light invaded her conscious, illuminating a circle on her ceiling. Yellow light...morpher. Morpher, trouble. Trouble.  
  
She fumbled for her bedside table --the morpher was too hefty to comfortably wear at night-- and picked it up. "'S Kira. Yeah?" she mumbled.  
  
"Kira, we have a situation. I need you downtown right away," Dr. O. said.  
  
"But it's...nighttime..." she said, and yawned, willing her brain to fully wake up.  
  
"Yes, I know, but it's get a few extra hours sleep, or let Reefside be destroyed by a crazy dino dude." There was a pause. "Conner's phrasing, not mine."  
  
Kira wished she was more awake, to better appreciate that jab at her unconventional team leader. But alas, her brain was still covered in a sleepy fog. "Okay," she said. "I guess I'm on my way, then."  
  
"Great."  
  
Kira threw off the covers...well, not so much 'threw' as 'pushed', and got out of bed. She strapped her morpher on. "Dino Thunder, power up!"  
  
She arrived on the scene about the same time as Ethan and Conner. Dr. O. was locked in a two-on-one battled with Zeltrax and another of Mesogog's hideous monsters.  
  
"Hey, ugly!" Conner yelled. "Don't you have any respect for your elders? Why don't you give us a go?"  
  
"Gladly," the monster replied, abandoning his siege on Dr. O. and going after the teenaged Rangers. Kira heard Dr. O. breathe the slightest sigh of relief as he took on Zeltrax uninterrupted.  
  
Kira was in an unusual state. For all intents and purposes, she was definitely awake, but her head was still encased in a soupy fog that even being up and moving in the chilly night air wasn't able to lift. Her eyes were prickling with that just-woke-up sensation, although it had been long enough that they should no longer be doing so. Fortunately, her Ranger instincts were taking over, leaving her in a decent physical condition to join the battle, though she was a far cry from her best performance.  
  
They rendered the monster a pile of ash, but predictably, it was not yet defeated, and they had to go to the Zords. When finally they triumphed and powered down, Kira promptly collapsed on the pavement, loosely aware of the alarmed cries of her teammates.

* * *

Kira awoke in an unfamiliar setting, to say the least. She had vague recollections of having passed out after a battle against another ugly monster. But from the looks of things, she was now in a bedroom. And not her own.  
  
Pressing the heel of her hand against her temple in an attempt to cease her throbbing headache, Kira pulled herself to a sitting position. A red comforter had been carefully arranged over her. She absently poked it, feeling how thick and soft it was. Red, her brain recognized, immediately making the connection to, "Conner..?"  
  
There was no answer, perhaps because her not-quite-a-question hadn't been more than a whisper. She blinked, taking in more of her surroundings. Definitely a bedroom, she was on a full-sized bed, black sheets. The walls were an off-white color, with a shelf in one corner displaying an array of glittering trophies. There was a _Sports Illustrated_ swimsuit calendar hanging next to a red soccer jersey pinned to the wall, with the word 'McKnight' stamped across the back in white letters.  
  
She _was_ in Conner's room. Groggily, she swung her legs off the edge of the bed, and stumbled to a standing position. She shook her head to clear it, and while it did nothing for her headache, she was feeling considerably more lucid now. She put her hand on the doorknob and was about to turn it when it turned for her. She jumped back to avoid getting hit by the swing as it opened, and Kira stared into Conner's face.  
  
He was surprised, then quickly broke into a grin. "You're awake. How are you feeling?"  
  
"A little tired, a lot more confused. What happened?"  
  
"Sit down, would you?" Conner said, shutting the door behind him and gently pushing her back onto the mattress. He handed her a glass of water and an ibuprofen tablet. "Here, this should help your headache some."  
  
"How did you know I have a headache?"  
  
"There's no reason why you _wouldn't_ have a headache," he said.  
  
She flashed him a brief smile and swallowed down the pill. "Thanks."  
  
"No problem."  
  
"Now again...what happened?"  
  
"How much do you remember?"  
  
"I think there was a battle of some kind...I'm kind of fuzzy on that."  
  
"Oh, yeah, that." Conner ran a hand through his hair, and she watched it ripple over his knuckles. He straddled a nearby chair. "Well, Mesogog figured to catch us off guard, so we came in and fought this really ugly thing, looked kind of like a polar bear mated with a goldfish and threw up on itself...but yeah, we fought it, we won, then we powered down and you passed out. So Dr. O. had me take you back here, so I could keep an eye on you."  
  
"Why couldn't he keep an eye on me?"  
  
"He's heavy into researching why the crazy dino dude decided to strike in the middle of the night."  
  
"How long have I been out?"  
  
"It's about noon now. We called into the school and plead sick for you and me. Ethan's getting our assignments," Conner added, rolling his eyes with obvious distaste at still having to do his homework.  
  
"Where are your parents?" she asked. Her headache was beginning to feel a bit better.  
  
"Work and stuff. I don't take too many sick days, so they were pretty lenient. Obviously, they didn't know you were here."  
  
"Thanks for taking me in, I guess."  
  
"Well, it's not like your mom was home to take care of you," he said, and she was surprised that he remembered that she'd told him her mom was out of town on a business trip. "Someone had to."  
  
"Well, it was...sweet." A word that had probably never come out of her mouth before, and also one that she never expected to attach to Conner, so it was a double-whammy of surprise. Conner's expression of disbelief no doubt mirrored her own. "Thanks," she added awkwardly. Still he said nothing, just wearing a tiny half-smile, and she chose to look around his room. "So this is the Temple of Conner, is it?"  
  
"Oh, you don't want to see any of this," he tried to dissuade her, shifting his chair across the carpet, attempting to block her view.  
  
Kira smirked. "What are you trying to hide?"  
  
"Nothing!" he insisted. "I have nothing to hide."  
  
"Oh, I'm sure you've got tons of secrets," she said.  
  
"No secrets," he said. "Just boring, average stuff."  
  
"Oh, come on, you aren't average or boring," she assured him, and touched his shoulder. Quickly she drew back and covered with, "Hey, listen, I'm still a bit tired, I'm going to catch a few more Z's, if that's all right."  
  
"That's fine," he said. "I was just gonna go watch TV or something." With a smile, he stood up, and let himself out. Kira slid back under the covers and buried her face in the pillow. She then realized that she was inhaling his scent, his delicious Conner scent, and she sat up so quickly that she gave herself another bout of dizziness. Conner's _scent_? She wasn't...she couldn't be...it just wasn't possible...  
  
"I am _not_ attracted to Conner McKnight," she told herself firmly, and satisfied with this statement, she lay back down, squeezed her eyes shut, and willed herself asleep. 


	2. 2

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

Elsa had gotten a hold of a laser of some kind. Kira realized with a sickening wrench that it wasn't a laser, it was one of the ThunderMax Sabers, one of the Rangers must have dropped it during the fight with the drones. Elsa was charging the blaster, was aiming it at Conner...Kira clapped her hand to her own hip and felt nothing but empty holster. It was hers. "Conner..." Kira started to yell, and then Elsa was firing, firing, again and again, and there was a flurry of light and smoke, and Conner flipped in the air and collapsed on the ground. He shifted slightly, but seemed unable to get up. He powered down involuntarily, too stunned to maintain his morphed form. _Kira's own weapon._ Where were Ethan and Dr. Oliver..? They were getting swarmed by drones, but no one was attacking Kira. Elsa approached Conner with a nasty smirk on her face, pointing the blaster and firing at point-blank range. Conner twitched, and didn't move. Elsa, satisfied, dropped the smoking blaster to the ground next to the fallen Ranger, and disappeared in a flash of green. "Conner, no, Conner..." Kira muttered, running to her friend's side. She kicked her weapon aside as she fell to her knees, grabbing futilely at Conner. "Power down," she said, using her bare hands to judge the warmth of his flesh and fumble for a pulse that she wouldn't have been able to gauge through her heavy gloves. She felt nothing, no breath of life beneath his skin, and the acrid cloud of smoke rising from her discarded gun was swamping the air around her. She choked on it, coughing, spluttering, as she pressed her fingers to his wrist, his neck, back to his wrist again, feeling for a pulse, but there wasn't one... "Conner!" she pleaded with him, tears creeping to her eyes. From the smoke, from the horror of what was happening, she didn't know, but things were blurring in front of her. He was growing cold beneath her. "CONNER!" Kira shrieked, rocking the air with one of her patented Ptera screams, but strong as it was, it could not rouse the dead.

* * *

Kira screamed. It pierced the air, pinched the air, numbed out all other sound for a few seconds until she heard a clattering and the door to the room opened. Conner was standing in the doorway, a look of pure panic on his face. Kira was sitting up in his bed. "Kira, oh my God, are you okay?" he asked, rushing over and kneeling by the side of the bed.  
  
"I…you're not dead," she realized.  
  
"No…" he said, frowning. "Are you all right?" He reached up and touched her forehead gently. She realized she was sweating profusely and jerked away from his hand.  
  
"I'm fine. Fine. Really. I just…bad dream," she said, and cast a nervous look at him. He looked concerned. For her. Kira remembered all the times during battle that he'd shouted her name, either as a warning, or when she'd gotten hit or something. Making her a priority. Now he was staring at her, with worry in his brown eyes, and…  
  
Kira shook her head to clear her thoughts. She was more awake now than she'd been in their previous encounter, at least, though every time she awoke, it was like she was coming from a decade-long coma. This was the first time she'd dreamed, that she could recall, but it had been so intensely vivid.  
  
"Bad dream?" he said. "You nearly blasted a hole through my wall. You're lucky no one's home. Want to tell me about it?" he asked in a softer voice.  
  
"We were fighting. And something happened, I dropped my gun, and Elsa got it, and she…" Kira swallowed, forcing the tremor out of her voice and said much more steadily, although still with a note of fear, "She killed you."  
  
"Are you sure?" he said.  
  
"Of _course_ I'm sure, Conner. I touched you, and I held you, and you were _dead_. You were dead and it was my fault." Kira was suddenly hit with the memory of holding Conner's limp form in her arms, heavy and cold, and the memory was so unspeakably real that she started to cry, loudly and out of control.  
  
"God, Kira…Kira!" Conner climbed onto the bed and pulled her against him, wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. "Kira, ssh, it's okay, it's okay. It never happened. It's a dream, Kira."  
  
"It wasn't a dream," she said. "It was too real. It wasn't a dream, it couldn't have been."  
  
"It was."  
  
"Oh, God…" Kira pressed herself into him, trying to usurp every ounce of strength that she could. "What's wrong with me, Conner, what is wrong with me? Nothing is making sense, everything's weird, it's…cloudy, somehow. And that dream…I _know_ it was just a dream, I _know_ it was. But it felt too damn real! You were _dead_ just a few minutes ago, Conner, I was there!"  
  
"I'm not dead," he said. "I'm here, I'm fine, everything is fine."  
  
"Fix me," she said. "I'm not myself. I want you guys to fix me, please, find out what's wrong with me and fix it. Please. I just…I don't know who I am anymore, I don't know what I am, I don't like it."  
  
"We'll find out what's wrong, Kira, I promise," he said.  
  
Their bracelets flashed simultaneously, yellow and red lights flashing patterns on his cream-colored walls. Conner went to answer his, keeping his other arm around her still. "Reading you, Dr. O. What's up?"  
  
"School's out, Ethan and I are at my house, if you guys are up to coming."  
  
Conner glanced down at Kira, who was wide-eyed and scared, pressing against him, looking much younger than she really was. "We have a bit of a situation, Dr. O. It's not serious…I don't think. Not yet, anyway. We need to look Kira over."  
  
"That's okay. Bring her over."  
  
"On it. Conner out." He looked down at Kira, who had stalled her flow of tears. "Kira, are you okay?"  
  
"Define 'okay.'"  
  
"Do you think you're up for heading to the lab?"  
  
"Yeah. I think so."  
  
"Then let's go." He pushed the covers off of her and helped her up. "Come on. Let's go."  
  
Kira stumbled the first step or so, but she straightened and walked firmly. She didn't need Conner's assistance, but she neglected to tell him so, enjoying the comfort of his arm around her shoulders. The thought stunned her, the feeling that being so close to him brought to her. He helped her into the car, and they drove in silence to Dr. O.'s house. Kira kept dwelling on her dream, and Conner had the presence of mind to know that was what she was thinking of, and let her. 


	3. 3

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

In Dr. O.'s basement, Kira was beginning to feel more like herself. She sat down and patiently explained everything that had happened to her within the past twenty four hours, and her voice only caught once in the description of her dream, not betraying the true horror that she had felt upon witnessing Conner's death. "Well?" she said when she finished. "What's wrong with me?"  
  
"I have no idea," Dr. O. said, frowning. "Back when I first started, whenever someone was acting unusually, it was usually because Rita or whoever had cast a spell of some kind. But Mesogog doesn't deal with spells. So..."  
  
"So it's me, then. I'm the one that's screwed up," Kira said glumly.  
  
"You're not screwed up, Kira," Conner said in a soothing tone, putting his arm around her shoulders again. She leaned into him, wondering why on earth she required strength from _Conner_, of all people. Ethan and Dr. O. were the brainiacs, Conner was just some dumb jock that served no useful purpose. She didn't hate him, and she was working to the point where she could respect him, but she in no _way_ liked him like that.  
  
But his embrace was strong, warm, and it made her feel better. She appreciated the care he was taking with her, when she felt so fragile and uncertain.  
  
"I'm screwed up," she repeated. "I'm...broken somehow. I was just a toy, two little kids were fighting over me. Duty and real life, and they both wanted to play with me, and they pulled, and they pulled, and," she slapped her hands together with a sound that made the three male Rangers jump, "whammo, something snapped, and now I'm broken. It's too much. Maybe I should quit."  
  
"If you want to..." Dr. O. said quietly. Conner and Ethan stared at her with concern, the same expression that she and Ethan had bestowed on Conner when he'd wanted to quit. But this was different.  
  
"I think..." Kira chewed on her lip, trying to think of how to phrase it. "My dream...it might have been...a prophecy." She looked up at Dr. O. and met his eyes directly, the only one she dared to look at. She could still feel Conner's arm around her, and its weight both reassured her, and with her newfound realization, terrified her. "I think that there's going to be a battle, and something's going to go wrong, and I'm going to kill Conner."  
  
"You didn't kill me," Conner said. "Elsa did."  
  
She shrugged off his arm and stood up, pacing frantically. "With _my_ gun, Conner, it was my fault somehow. I got you killed in the dream, which means in the future I'm going to get you killed, and I have to quit the team because I can't let that happen."  
  
"Kira!" Conner yelled, stepping in front of her. He gripped her arms in his hands and forced her to look up at him. "You didn't kill me. _Elsa_ did. You dropping your gun doesn't count as killing me. It was an accident, and furthermore, it _never happened_. You hear me? It never happened. It's just a dream."  
  
"But it _will_ happen."  
  
"You didn't just wake up one morning as a prophet, Kira!"  
  
"How do you know?" she said, slapping his hands away. "Anything can happen, Conner. A couple of months ago, if someone had told you that you were a Power Ranger, what would you have done? Yeah, you would've laughed in their face. But here you are, you're a Power Ranger! Crazy, huh?"  
  
"Whoa, hey, everybody calm down," Dr. O. said. "Take a seat, take a few deep breaths, relax."  
  
"Dr. O., do you think I'm crazy? Am I crazy?"  
  
"No. Weirder things have happened in my life, that I think who knows, maybe you are a prophet."  
  
"It makes sense, don't you think? How I'm tired all of a sudden, how I passed out…the vision was so real that it took a lot out of me, that it needed extra energy from me to manifest itself."  
  
"You sound like you've been watching one too many episodes of _Buffy_," Ethan said.  
  
"Says the guy who got sucked into a video game," Conner retorted. He fixed Kira with those soulful brown eyes again. "It sounds crazy, but I believe you, Kira." He reached out to pat her arm, a gesture of reassurance, but she drew away.  
  
"Don't touch me."  
  
"Why? You haven't killed me yet," he said with a grin.  
  
"Don't even _joke_ about that, Conner, you freaking _died_."  
  
"That's _if_ your prophecy comes true. But now that we know it's a prophecy--"  
  
"Or _think_ we know," Ethan interjected from the other side of the room.  
  
"--we can try and prevent it. Like, you can just not carry a blaster or whatever when we go fight." He glanced to Dr. O. "We can do that, right? Changes to the morpher?"  
  
Dr. O. shrugged. "Sure. It's dangerous, though, going in there without a weapon."  
  
"She'll still have a weapon," Conner said, "she'll have the Ptera Grips."  
  
"It's a risk I'm willing to take, if it means saving Conner's life," Kira said firmly.  
  
"Okay then. Give me your morpher, and I'll make some quick modifications." Kira removed it and handed it over. "I'm going to go upstairs and grab something out of your fridge, if that's okay."  
  
"Sure, go ahead," Dr. O. said distractedly, disappearing into one of the darker corners of the lab to tinker with her morpher. "Conner, can I talk to you a sec?" she heard Ethan saying quietly as she headed back into Dr. O.'s modest home.  
  
"Sure," Conner said. Kira paused in the stone hallway, pressing herself against the wall so to better hide in the shadows.  
  
"What's with you and Kira? You're really...touchy-feely, you know? The arm around her and stuff..."  
  
"Dude, you're making a big deal out of nothing," Conner said, laughing it off with a laugh that wasn't that convincing.  
  
"Since you two got here, there has been approximately five minutes in which you weren't in some way touching her. What gives? Are you, like, into her or something?"  
  
Conner, into her? Kira's brow furrowed as she puzzled this over. All this time, she'd been worried that she was into Conner...  
  
"What? Dude. You're...that's crazy. She's Kira."  
  
"Okay, fine, whatever. More importantly than that, she hasn't kicked your butt to kingdom come. Now tell me _that's_ not weird."  
  
"You heard what she said. She's obviously not herself, dude."  
  
Pushing away from the wall, heading towards food, Kira couldn't argue with Conner's claim that she was hardly herself today. But she was feeling a lot more like herself now. Except for that nagging feeling...  
  
"But you _could_ conceivably be into her, right?" Ethan asked, causing Kira to stop dead in the hallway and listen.  
  
"Well, yeah, duh. I mean, she's hot and pretty smart, and funny, and all those good things. And I dig her music." Kira felt a smile crossing her face. Confusing little tingle that seemed Conner-induced aside, it meant a lot to have him say that, as her friend. Especially knowing that he'd never say it to her face. "And I'm also kind of afraid of her sometimes."  
  
She had to clap her hand over her mouth to stifle her laughter at that particular tidbit. Grinning, she darted upstairs and raided Dr. O.'s fridge. He lived the life of a bachelor, a single man living a modest life on a teacher's salary, whose money went entirely to his secret underground lab, and whose free time was spent saving the world and coaching teenagers to save the world. She found a few beers located in the vegetable crisper (no veggies to speak of), and debated taking one, just to see if he'd notice, but figured he'd kick her butt if he found out. That, and she wasn't really interested in drinking. She avoided anything but the basics, all in the interest of preserving her vocal chords. There was a slice of cold pizza, a half-full milk carton, a jar of mayonnaise, and a package of deli turkey with only two slices left. Dissatisfied, Kira perused the contents of the pantry next, finding crackers that were only moderately stale, half a loaf of bread, and an unopened jar of peanut butter. She was in the process of making herself some peanut butter crackers when Conner joined her in the kitchen. "Hey," he said, sitting down at the island across from her.  
  
"Hey." She sighed, jabbing the knife in the peanut butter jar and folding her hands on the table before looking at him. "I'm sorry about going off on you earlier. I'm just really freaked out by all of this."  
  
"No, I understand. It's cool."  
  
She held out a cracker as a peace offering. "Snack?"  
  
"Thanks." He chomped on it. "Crackers are kinda stale."  
  
"Yeah. Conner..."  
  
"Yeah?" he raised his eyebrows at her.  
  
"Thanks."  
  
"For..?"  
  
"Taking care of me."  
  
"You already thanked me for that."  
  
"I don't mean just today," she said, gazing down at the worn countertop and tracing her finger over one of the patterns. "I mean...you look out for me. Out in the field and stuff. And, I mean, I don't think I need it or anything, but it's nice of you to do it. It means you're a good leader," she added lamely.  
  
"Not as good as I should be. I mean, I don't look after Ethan like that." He chewed on another stale cracker, this one without peanut butter. "I guess that makes me sexist or something, doesn't it."  
  
"Maybe. It depends. Why do you do it for me? Because you think I can't handle it? Because you think I can't handle it because I'm a _girl_? 'Cause if it's one of those, then you're sexist."  
  
"It's not like that. I just...I dunno, I feel like I should protect you, I guess. Not that you need protecting," he added quickly.  
  
"Well...thanks." She smiled at him, albeit awkwardly, and he smiled back. It was a nice moment, the kind that came few and far between for any of them these days.  
  
"I'm going to keep doing it, if that's okay."  
  
"You don't have to. I don't need it." She felt bad for repeating the same phrase over and over again.  
  
"I know. I want to, is all. I'm here for you, you know that, right?"  
  
"Yeah." They both reached for another cracker, and their hands bumped. They nervously drew back, avoiding each others eyes. Conner tried again, and when his hand vacated the package, Kira got one. The only sound was their muffled chewing. Kira suddenly found her hand was moving of it's own free will so that her fingertips were brushing Conner's, their hands both flat on the table. After a long moment, still neither of them looking at each other, but not looking at their wayward hands either, his came to rest on top of hers. Warm, strong, comforting. They stayed that way for what seemed like forever. Eating didn't seem very important anymore. For the first time that day, Kira felt completely calm. When she finally dared to meet Conner's eyes, he was staring back at her. This felt weird, but it didn't feel wrong.  
  
"Hey, guys, I finished the morpher," Dr. O. was saying, and suddenly Kira realized he'd come back into the house. Conner removed his hand, instead busying himself with spreading a too-heavy dollop of peanut butter over a stale and therefore not very stable cracker. He stared at his task with the utmost concentration. Their connection was broken.  
  
Dr. O. appeared in the doorway to the kitchen, and handed over Kira's bracelet. "Here you go. No blaster, no worries."  
  
"Thanks," she said, slapping it back on. She noticed for the first time Ethan in the room, dwarfed by Dr. O.'s shadow. Conner's cracker broke beneath the butter knife. "Your crackers are stale, Dr. O."  
  
"Tell me something I didn't know."  
  
"The Hawaiian alphabet only has twelve letters."  
  
They all gaped at him, and he put on an innocent face. "What? I read."  
  
"Not of your own free will," Ethan said. Conner just grinned his trademark grin.  
  
"I think I'm okay now, guys," Kira said, standing up. "I should get home."  
  
"Are you sure?" Conner said. "I mean, are you sure you want to go back to your house? What if something else happens?"  
  
"I should be okay," Kira said. And she truly believed that, because she was beginning to feel like her old self.  
  
"Maybe Conner's right," Dr. O. said. "You don't have anyone at home to take care if you, Kira."  
  
"I can take care of myself," she said.  
  
"Besides, if she has another weird freak out episode, she wouldn't _want_ any family members around, because she'd have a lot of explaining to do," Ethan pointed out.  
  
"Totally," Conner said. "She practically tore the door off its hinges last time. Not to mention giving me a coronary."  
  
"At least you weren't in the line of fire," she said.  
  
"Can't she stay here, Dr. O.?" Ethan said.  
  
Dr. O. shook his head. "I'm probably under enough suspicion as it is, being seen with you guys as often as I do. I wouldn't want to get fired for housing an underage student."  
  
"Absolutely," Kira agreed fervently. "I'm not staying here." She glanced to Conner. "Just give me a ride home? I'll be fine, I swear."  
  
"Okay," he said. "I'll see you guys later." And he followed Kira outside. They climbed into the car and were halfway back to town when Kira, in the middle of changing stations on the radio, slumped over in her seat. 


	4. 4

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

Elsa was holding one of the ThunderMax Sabers; one of the Rangers must have dropped it during the fight with the drones. 

She was charging it, aiming it at Conner.

_Wait, I remember this_.

Kira felt at her own hip, and her blaster wasn't in its holster.

But her holster wasn't there. Dr. O. had removed it.

"Conner..." Kira started, but Elsa was quick, too quick, and she was firing, firing, again and again, and there was a barrage of light, and he was sheathed in smoke, flipping through the air, collapsing to the ground hard, losing his morph. Dr. O. and Ethan were surrounded by drones, same as before, and Kira was alone, same as before.

Elsa approached Conner with a nasty smirk on her face, pointing the blaster and firing at point-blank range. Conner twitched once then lay still, and Elsa threw the gun to the ground and vacated the premises. Kira darted to Conner's side and dropped to her knees in one motion, murmuring his name over and over as she struggled to lift his motionless body off the pavement. She powered down, feeling for a pulse but finding none, feeling his flesh grow cold, choking on smoke and tears. _Not again_. "Conner...Conner! Wake up!" But he wasn't stirring. He wasn't waking. "CONNER!" she shrieked desperately, and her mournful cry lapsed into a full-on Ptera scream.

* * *

She woke with a violent spasm, and found herself once again spread out on black sheets, surrounded by off-white walls. Conner was sitting in his chair, watching her. He got up and knelt beside her when he saw she was awake. "Another dream?"  
  
"Same." She was trembling, terrified. Seeing Conner so close, seeing the flush in his cheeks, seeing his chest expand and contract with a healthy, normal intake of oxygen --very much alive-- was nerve wracking. "It wasn't my gun. You died the same way, but it wasn't...it wasn't mine." She sat up, shaking her head to clear the remnants of the dream. "What am I doing here? I thought I told you to take me home."  
  
"I was trying to, but you passed out in my car, and I thought it would be better if I brought you back here."  
  
"But..." she clapped her hand over her mouth as a new realization hit her, distracting her from her original train of thought. "Oh God, did I scream again?"  
  
"Yeah."  
  
"I didn't..." she searched his face worriedly.  
  
Conner merely shrugged. "I'm getting better at covering my ears. Still hurts, though."  
  
"But your parents..."  
  
"Oh, that..." Suddenly he stiffened, getting to his feet fast. "Lay down," he ordered, pushing her back down on the mattress. "Stay still." He drew the blanket up over her, threw a pillow on top of her, and fiddled with something on the bed. Kira dutifully lay still, a puzzled expression crossing her face. Moments later she understood as she heard a soft hum of music and the door to Conner's room opening.  
  
"Conner, what on earth is going on? Is everything okay? I heard a noise..."  
  
"Sorry, Mom," she heard Conner say sheepishly. "I was messing with the stereo, and..." She could just picture him shrugging.  
  
"For the love of...go to _bed_, would you, Conner? It's late. The neighbors are going to..." Conner's mother sighed, and the door shut. Conner turned off the stereo, and Kira counted to ten before pushing the covers off of her. Conner was at his bedroom door, locking it.  
  
"You couldn't have locked it before?"  
  
"She would have been more suspicious if I had," he said.  
  
"I'm not staying, you know."  
  
"You had another dream. You're staying."  
  
"You can't _make_ me stay," she said hotly, getting out of the bed. He stepped directly in her path, staring down at her.  
  
"Kira, if you aren't going to stay for your own good, then at least do it for my peace of mind, okay? Please." His hand was grabbing hers. The same hands that had touched in the kitchen...he was holding her hand now, and he was trying to help her. Conner wasn't the best leader, or the best fighter, and he certainly wasn't the brains of the group, but he _tried_, dammit.  
  
"Okay," she said. She sat back down on the mattress, reluctant to let go of his hand, but doing so anyway. "Where are you going to sleep?"  
  
He shrugged nonchalantly. "Floor."  
  
"No way. Not in your own room."  
  
"I'm not making you sleep on the floor in your condition."  
  
"My _condition_? Like I'm going to _break_ or something." She rolled her eyes, and was surprised to see him grinning widely at her. "What?"  
  
"Now _that's_ the Kira I know and love," he said.  
  
She smiled back at him, feeling better with every passing minute. But had he said _love_..? No. He didn't mean it like that. She shrugged it off. "I'm taking the floor."  
  
"I don't want you to do that," he insisted. He had never shown her this kind of respect, this kind of compassion before. Usually he just blurted out whatever came into his mind, regardless if it was hurtful or not. A lot of the times, he didn't even realize it _was_ hurtful. She was surprised that he could be so sweet, and decided to take advantage of it. "Fine." She sat back down on the bed, noting for the first time that he'd removed her shoes for her. "What am I supposed to do tomorrow morning? I'm not missing school again."  
  
"You can go from here. I don't know what I'm going to do about clothes for you..." he said, frowning as he gazed at his closet.  
  
"No girl clothes?" she teased.  
  
"Nothing yellow," he returned with a wicked grin. She laughed and hit his arm lightly. "You're an idiot sometimes."  
  
He shrugged, an admission of the truth.  
  
"You can sleep on the bed, too," Kira said. Conner's eyebrows shot up. "I mean, on top of the covers, and I can be under, or vice versa...I'm just saying, it's a big bed, and I don't think you should have to sleep on the floor, is all," she finished hurriedly, her cheeks showing her embarrassment at the implications of her proposal. Not that she was implying anything, really, she was only trying to be fair. And Conner knew that she wasn't interested in him like that. God knew he wasn't interested in her like that.  
  
Then she remembered the comforting hugs, the brief, fleeting touches here and there...  
  
The tingling sensation she felt...  
  
No _way_. The tingling sensation was a side effect of the weird mood she'd been in. Like the prickling behind her eyes that was omnipresent these past few days, and the random passing out. And Conner, Conner was just trying to be nice to her because she was turning into a space case. He was probably getting a serious kick out of this, amused that for once someone was being stupider than him.  
  
"If you're sure..." he said hesitantly.  
  
"Don't make me take it back," she said, more harshly than she'd intended, but he only quirked his lips. "If that's what you want..." he said. "I'm gonna change, if that's all right with you. Do you gotta use the bathroom or something?" She nodded. "Okay, it's the first door to your left. Try not to make too much noise. Parents."  
  
"Right, of course," she said. She undid the deadbolt on the door and started to open it cautiously when Conner said, "Kira, here." She turned, her reflexes just fast enough to catch what he'd thrown at her. "I figured you might wanna change," he said. She looked down, it looked like an old shirt. "Uh, thanks," she said, and quickly ducked out of the room.  
  
She made quick work of the bathroom, not wanting to run the risk of facing Conner's parents. Plus, if she had another 'episode', it would be better to do it in Conner's room, and save him the trouble of trying to carry her again. Poor guy. She knew he was strong, and she knew she was fairly petite, but it still couldn't have been easy, hauling all that dead weight. And up stairs! She had a new respect for her teammate when she thought about it. Conner was really being a stand-up guy here, astonishing behavior from a guy she had long ago written off as a complete egomaniacal jerk.  
  
When she had finished with her super-quick shower, that hadn't been much more than stepping in and out of the bathtub, she glanced at Conner's peace offering to her, a fire engine red soccer jersey. One of many, though it wasn't officially from the team or anything. Considering his height and her lack of it, it covered everything that needed to be covered, and was actually quite comfortable. Satisfied, Kira retreated for Conner's room. He was lying down on one side of the bed, arms folded behind his head, staring at the ceiling. He glanced at her when she came in. "You weren't gone long."  
  
"Too risky," she said, fastening the deadbolt behind her. He was in red boxers and a white wife beater, and she averted her eyes, too freaked out by the whole situation.  
  
"Shirt fit okay?" he asked.  
  
"Fine, thanks." She put her dirty clothes in a neatly folded bundle next to the bed and climbed under the covers. "You will never speak of this to Ethan," she said.  
  
Conner laughed. "Gotcha."  
  
"Or Dr. O., for that matter."  
  
"Do you think I particularly want to die young?" he asked, laughing slightly. She rolled her eyes and smiled.  
  
Conner turned off the light, and they both lay there. Kira had the feeling that the Red Ranger was still awake. Sure enough... "Kira, are you asleep?"  
  
"No."  
  
"Do you want to, like, talk?"  
  
She cocked an eyebrow, not that he could see her reaction. "About..?"  
  
"I dunno. Anything."  
  
"Since when did you become Mr. Sensitivity?" she teased.  
  
"I must've gotten knocked on the head or something," he returned. "Can I ask about your dream?"  
  
The dream. For a few minutes, she'd managed to get it out of her mind, but it all came back now in full Technicolor, with surround sound. Like a real memory. She had to reach out for Conner's arm and grab it to reassure herself that it hadn't happened. Yet.  
  
"Kira, you okay?" he asked worriedly, shifting next to her, creaking the mattress. She could feel his eyes boring into her in the dark, though she doubted he could see much of her.  
  
She moved her hand from him. "It's...it's just so vividly real, you know? I know it sounds crazy, but it feels like it happened. I think about it, and I can smell the smoke, I can hear the sounds..."  
  
"Maybe it's like sensory memory or something," he said. "I mean, you've dealt with the weapons often enough by now that you know exactly what they look like, feel like, smell, sound, et cetera. And that's just coming together with your dream."  
  
"Maybe." It was an unusually well thought out response from Conner, which caught her by surprise. But unfortunately, she knew he was wrong. "Can we talk about something else?"  
  
"I don't know...maybe you _should_ talk about this."  
  
"I've already told you what happens, Conner. You die. It was the same in both dreams."  
  
"Yeah, well, why me?"  
  
"You think I know? I dunno, probably because Elsa hates you."  
  
"Elsa hates all of us."  
  
"I don't _know_, Conner, God. I'm not a frigging psychic." Then she realized what she'd said, and thought about her dreams, and laughed. "This is..." She shook her head slightly. "Can we talk about _anything_ else?"  
  
"How about your thing for Trent?"  
  
Kira felt her face go hot, and was again grateful that he couldn't see her. "I don't have a thing for Trent," she said, keeping her voice remarkably even.  
  
"Ethan says otherwise. He says you saw Trent and referred to him as being 'wow.'" Conner laughed softly. "I don't see it, personally. I think I'm about a million times more 'wow' than Trent."  
  
"The only 'wow' that applies to you is the one for your ego," she said, but she was oddly pleased by Conner's sudden bout of ego. It was something familiar to her, and she appreciated anything familiar at the moment. She sighed thoughtfully. "I don't know. Trent's a nice guy." Oddly enough, she didn't have anything else to contribute to that. But she was uncomfortable with all the talk about herself. "What about you, any special ladies?"  
  
"Me?" Conner laughed. "No way. I mean, with school and soccer and being a Ranger now, too? Like I have the time for girls. Especially since I have this whole secret life and everything. Too much of a pain."  
  
"No one will go out with you, huh," she said.  
  
"That was brutal," he said, but she thought she heard amusement in his tone.  
  
"So is there anyone you're at least interested in?"  
  
"Well...there's someone, sorta..."  
  
"Hmm. Do I know her?"  
  
"What, so you can give her a heads-up and she can start running? I don't think so." Kira gave a squeak of indignation. "Yeah, you know her," Conner conceded finally. "But I'm not telling you who she is. I don't really know how I feel about her yet."  
  
There was something in his voice that made her decide to drop this particular line of questioning. "How come Dr. O. never talks about his past?" she asked.  
  
"He does."  
  
"Not really. Vague allusions...I think he figures that we saw the video diary, and we know everything there is to know. He almost never brings up any of it. I mean...there must be _some_ good memories in there, right? Otherwise, he wouldn't have bothered trying to form a new team."  
  
"I think he probably still would have formed a new team," Conner said thoughtfully. "Dr. O.'s the kind of guy that would try to save the world if he was in a wheelchair. He's just a stand-up kind of guy, you know?"  
  
"Yeah, you're right," she said. "Still, I just wish he would trust us enough to actually _tell_ us something every now and again, is all."  
  
"The mysterious thing is getting annoying," he agreed. 


	5. 5

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

"I'm going after Elsa," Conner said.  
  
"No way, you're not going in alone," Dr. O. said, ducking as a drone swung for his head.  
  
"She'll get the egg, Dr. O.! Besides, I've gone against her _and_ Zeltrax by myself before. I'll be fine. You guys can handle the drones."  
  
"Conner--" the good professor started, but the Red Ranger was already running off, and he, Ethan, and Kira were under siege by a throng of drones. "Kira, go after him!" Dr. O. commanded, producing his Brachio Staff to hold back what had once been his creation. "Ethan and I will be fine."  
  
"Right," she said, running off after Conner. Her leader was racing Elsa for the egg, sandwiched between dumpsters at the end of a wide alley. Kira reached for her blaster instinctively, before she remembered that it wasn't there. But Conner, well ahead of her, had his at the ready and when Elsa scooped up the egg, he fired.  
  
The blast caught her in the side, and she went down, sending the egg flying. Conner used a burst of his super speed to catch it before it hit the pavement, but in the process he dropped his gun. Kira felt her blood run cold, and she yelped a warning, but Conner didn't hear. The blaster was directly in Elsa's line of sight, only a few feet away...she was getting up...she was picking up the gun...she was charging, she was aiming...  
  
The first blast incinerated the egg in Conner's hands. Apparently if Elsa couldn't have it, no one could. Then she advanced on the trapped Red Ranger, firing and firing. Conner went down, losing his morph, and Kira started to advance, but she already knew what was going to happen. Elsa fired at the defenseless, powered-down Ranger, discarded the blaster, and returned to her master, wounded, with the loss of the egg, but the defeat of a Ranger.  
  
Kira knew it was no use, she remembered all of this, but already she was out of morph, feeling for Conner's pulse, feeling him dying in her arms, feeling him dead in her arms. She screamed his name, the air rippling with the force of her Dino Gem's power as it was awakened in a bout of grief.

* * *

Conner's jersey was clinging to her back, fused to her skin by sweat. She was sitting up, breathing heavily. "Just another dream, just another dream..." she chanted to herself, but it was still so horrifically _real_.  
  
"Kira?" She felt Conner's hand on her shoulder, and she collapsed wearily against his chest, on the verge of tears again. She couldn't keep doing this. He held her quietly while her panic attack subsided. "Did I scream again?" she asked.  
  
"Yeah, but the thunder drowned it out, so don't worry about my parents," he said. Straining, she heard the steady patter of rain against the windowpane, a noise she had previously thought was her own drumming heartbeat. "I wasn't so lucky," he said.  
  
"I'm sorry," she said.  
  
"It's not your fault," he assured her.  
  
"There was more this time," she said. "I went a little farther back, I saw what happened before. There was an egg, and you and Elsa were after it..."  
  
"Where was it?" he asked.  
  
"Downtown somewhere."  
  
"That's great! Kira, before we didn't know exactly what was happening, if what you were seeing was real or not. Now all we have to do is have Hayley do a search downtown for an egg, and if we find one..."  
  
"If we find one, what? It's real, and you die! If we find one, this happens just that much sooner! It was _your_ gun, Conner, not mine!" At least she had that, the lack of guilt. But she still had the grief. "Please. Don't tell Dr. O. about that part of the dream. I'm doing better not knowing for sure if it's a vision or not. Please," she added again quietly.  
  
"I won't," he promised. She could tell right away that he wasn't thrilled about the idea, but neither of them said anything about that.  
  
The bed jostled as she lay down again, then more so as he followed suit. After a moment of silence, Kira found herself shifting so that she was closer to him. She could feel his warmth resonating, penetrating through the covers that she was under. "Conner, I don't know...this is embarrassing for me, but...I'm scared. I'm really scared."  
  
"It's okay," he said, stretching his arm across his chest to hug her slightly. "It'll be okay."  
  
"I'm not sure it'll ever be okay," Kira muttered. And though she felt weirdly safe next to Conner, she couldn't help thinking that they were just two terrified kids, thrown into something much bigger than either of them could handle.

* * *

The next morning, Conner was already up and dressed when Kira woke up. "My parents both left early for work this morning," he said, "so you don't have to worry about hiding or anything. But you might want to hurry, we're going to be late."  
  
"Right," she said, yawning. "Actually, I feel pretty okay now."  
  
"No more dreams?"  
  
"Nope." She grinned. "And no headache, and I don't even feel tired! I think maybe I beat this."  
  
"That's great, Kira," he said.  
  
"We'll have to drop by my house before school," she said, "so I can change. I can't exactly show up at school wearing your clothes."  
  
"We'll tell them I gave you a ride," he said.  
  
"Look, I don't want to be lying to them any more than you , but..."  
  
"Hey, it was my idea for you to stay here, wasn't it?" Conner cut in. "It's fine. I'll be waiting in the car."  
  
"Yup," she said, watching as he left the room. She quickly changed out of his jersey and back into yesterday's clothes and then went to get him. He made a madcap drive to her house, and waited patiently in the driveway while she darted inside.  
  
In her own room, where she hadn't been in over a day, she didn't have time to appreciate its familiarity, only time to change quickly, then grab her makeup and schoolbooks and guitar. After spending the night with Conner's sheets, Conner's jersey, and then resting against Conner himself, she was overwhelmed with the scent she had focused on yesterday, and was overcome by its absence in her own room.  
  
As Conner started to drive for the school, Kira started to apply her heavy eye makeup. "Is that really necessary?" Conner said.  
  
"Yeah, kinda," she said, rolling her eyes. As a guy, he'd never understand. As a complete idiot, he'd understand even less.  
  
"You look fine without it..." he said. "I mean, you look fine with it on, and everything, but you don't look bad without it, you know..?" She glanced at him and he sighed. "I'll shut up now."  
  
"You missed your usual practice this morning," she said. "Sorry about that."  
  
"It's not a problem."  
  
"If I had missed a rehearsal, I would've been slightly murderous."  
  
"The shocking thing here is that you went a full day without your guitar."  
  
"You went a full day without kicking your bocce ball around. _That's_ shocking."  
  
Conner just smiled and pulled into the parking lot. 


	6. 6

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

Kira swooped in on Ethan at lunch. "Where's Conner?"  
  
He looked up from his sandwich. "I have no idea. Have you tried the soccer field? Isn't that where he usually is?"  
  
"Not there. Maybe Dr. O.'s seen him?"  
  
"Maybe. Why're you looking for him?"  
  
"I just wanted to ask him something," Kira faltered. Actually, come to think of it, she really didn't know why she'd been looking for him. She had simply found herself wanting to spend some time with him. Normally, she spent plenty of time with the guy...maybe too much. Ethan looked like he wasn't sure what to say, so she quickly made her exit and spared him any awkward questions.  
  
Kira decided to try for the soccer field again. It was, after all, Conner's home away from home. Unless he now considered his home away from home to be the lab or maybe even Hayley's, but since it was still school hours, Kira figured that the field was simply where he had to be.  
  
Sure enough, he was there, bouncing his bocce ball in his right hand, hitting it upwards with his palm, and getting it as it came back down, flipping his hand over to knock it with the back of his wrist, then again on its downswing, hitting it with the underside of his wrist as though it were a volleyball. He was talking to some girl. Kira didn't recognize her, so she must have been an underclassman--only a few inches shorter than Conner with a flaming red bob cut. While Hayley herself was a redhead, hers was almost maroon, practically purple in color, but this girl's hair was the definition of 'redhead'. An all-natural, bright, vibrant orange color. Conner was laughing at something the girl had said, his face splitting in that organ-melting grin. Kira had never experienced anything quite like Conner's trademark smile, his most honest, open grin, one that made your insides turn completely liquid should he fix it on you. And he was fixing it on that girl. While his right hand was still occupied with the bocce ball, his left was touching the girl's arm as he said something that made her giggle.  
  
Kira felt ill. She felt a wave of nausea so strong that it crashed through her as a hurricane. She felt as though she would vomit, but instead her lips croaked open, and a ptera scream exploded from her gut, fighting through her body, all fists and elbows as it pushed everything aside, a claustrophobic individual combating for open air. The ptera scream could well have been her most powerful yet, prompted by a base emotion even more powerful than the fear that had first awakened her power, rocking the air and rendering her completely weak. She collapsed to her knees, shadows of her dream, but in reverse order. She had no energy to stand, none to move, barely even any to think. She was only vaguely aware of whispers, a hum of confusion as her fellow students tried to puzzle out this phenomenon, and she heard the lightest squish of someone running across the grass. Kira heard someone speaking her name, as though from very far away, and she felt hands on her shoulders, warm and strong. For a brief moment they spread a tide of comfort through her body, but shortly thereafter she realized who they belonged to. Realized that Conner was touching her.  
  
Conner's arm around her last night as she fell asleep, holding her terror in check.  
  
Conner's hand on that girl, Conner's smile just for that girl, Conner's eyes boring into that girl's.  
  
"Get off me," Kira snarled, and though her voice wasn't very strong, her mouth and throat aching from the rawness of her scream, her tone was fierce enough. "Don't touch me, don't _ever_ touch me."  
  
He let go of her, and she felt a twist that was both relief and agony. "Dr. O., we have a situation on the soccer field...you better get down here immediately."  
  
Kira sat on her heels, bending over so that her hair twisted through the even grass, an upright fetal position. She shook with a seizure borne of the most intense pain, her body doing its best to match what her soul was suffering.  
  
"Kira?" Dr. Oliver's voice punctuated through the dark fog that was shrouding her, and her shakes slowed, stilled, subsided. She felt a hand on her back, between her shoulder blades, and judged by its weight that it was not Conner's. "Did she have another attack?"  
  
"Yeah. Or something. She's acting like she just had another one of those dreams, but she wasn't asleep."  
  
"We have to get her out of here."  
  
"She screamed, Dr. O., and a lot of people saw."  
  
"I'll figure out something. We just have to get her out of here. Ethan, Conner, help her up."  
  
"I don't want him touching me," Kira said hoarsely. Through the fog, her brain was trying to get a hold of itself, was drawing a picture of what it knew from experience was happening above her. Dr. Oliver's bemused expression, Ethan's concerned look, Conner's helpless shrug. "She means me," Conner said.  
  
"Okay..." Dr. O. said slowly, as though trying to process this, as if trying to fit Kira's odd reaction into the puzzle of her condition. "Fine. Ethan, help her up. You guys need to get her back to the lab, and get a hold of Hayley. I have classes for the rest of the afternoon, but I'll be there as soon as I can."  
  
"Right," the two boys chorused, and Kira felt fumbling hands on her arms as Ethan attempted to upright her. Conner's moves had always been so fluid, so instinctual with her, but Ethan appeared completely lost as to what to do with her.  
  
Kira had no recollection of how Ethan got her to Conner's car, though she knew she hadn't passed out. Her brain was haywiring itself with the constant loop of Conner and that girl, and she almost wished she could have her dream again, to be saved from this montage of Conner's flirting techniques with some hapless, love-struck freshman. She found herself praying for the dream, wanting the blackness, wanting to see the events unfold as though real, wanting Conner's death so violently that were she truly herself, she would have been horrified at her reaction. But she was hardly herself. She was a shell, her mind shut off to the rest of the world, lost in its own instant replay and filling her with a raging hatred. She wanted Conner to feel pain. She wanted him to suffer. She wanted to punch her fist in his gut, twist around, and emerge with a slick, slimy handful of his oozing, wretched guts. She hated him. Hate.  
  
"I hate you."  
  
"Kira?"  
  
Her eyes flew open, and she had the fleeting wonder that perhaps she had fallen asleep, because she was now in the lab, and she didn't remember getting here. But her gaze was absolutely clear and lucid, leaving her teammates with the idea that maybe she was back. Until she repeated her phrase. "I hate you." Her expression rocketed from sober to fiery as her eyes met Conner's.  
  
"What? Kira..?" He sounded confused, torn. He sounded like a lost little boy, faced with something he couldn't even begin to comprehend.  
  
"Who was she, Conner?" she spat. "Just another groupie? Just some insignificant little conquest, a little fun between classes?"  
  
"I..." Conner's eyes widened, setting off a ripple in his forehead as his eyebrows arched, as he finally got it. Ethan was staring at him now as well, utterly lost. "I have no idea who she was. She just came over and started talking to me."  
  
"You don't even know who she was?" Kira said. "Oh, great, Conner, that's just wonderful, that makes everything just _so_ much better."  
  
"What are you even going on about?" Conner said. "Don't you remember what happened?"  
  
"I remember exactly what happened."  
  
"Kira, you need to calm down, you're not yourself, you're sick..."  
  
_"Don't you dare try to be compassionate with me!"_ she screeched, though fortunately for the two boys, her body was too weak to support a full-on ptera scream, so they just got the powerless version. "You son of a--"  
  
"I got here as soon as I could," Hayley announced, stepping into the room. Conner looked relieved to be spared from Kira's tirade, and stepped to the other side of the room to watch. "What's the problem?"  
  
Ethan filled her in on everything. She hadn't been there for yesterday's meeting, so he had to start from the beginning. Hayley asked a few questions that he couldn't answer, so Conner filled in. Kira had her eyes closed, trying to pretend as though Conner didn't exist, but they believed she'd passed out again.  
  
"She was doing fine this morning when we left for school--that is, when I went to get her," he covered quickly, the two of them having agreed to not discuss the fact that she'd spent the night at Conner's house. "And then at lunch, her power started going out of control, and she just collapsed."  
  
"Oh, and she hates Conner," Ethan threw in.  
  
"Like that's a surprise," Hayley said, and Kira fought the smile that threatened to give her away.  
  
"Well, considering the way they were all buddy-buddy yesterday, it kind of is. Conner's been taking care of her, and they practically haven't left each other's side, but just now she went ballistic on him over nothing."  
  
"Over this girl who was talking to me at lunch," Conner said.  
  
Kira wasn't sure if she wanted the girl to have a name or not, if it was worse if she was anonymous.  
  
"Kira went ballistic because you were flirting with a girl?" Hayley asked dubiously.  
  
"I so was not flirting with her," Conner was quick to defend himself.  
  
"But yeah, she kind of did," Ethan said.  
  
"That's weird," Hayley said. Kira's nose was itching, but she couldn't scratch it without them catching on that she was awake, so instead she wriggled her nose furiously, as if wrinkling it would somehow erase the itch. "Guys, check it, she's waking up again," Ethan said, and Kira opened her eyes.  
  
"Hey there, Kira, how are you feeling?" Hayley asked gently.  
  
"Like crap," Kira said honestly. Her body, however, was actually beginning to feel fine again. "But better crap than previously. And I'm not tired. Lately I've been really tired."  
  
"Ethan told me everything," Hayley said.  
  
"Do you think it's some sort of side effect from the Dino Gems?" Kira asked, sitting up. "Isn't it possible that they could have other powers to them?"  
  
"Stranger things have happened; I wouldn't completely rule it out," Hayley said.  
  
"Is Conner still here?" Kira said, though she knew perfectly well that he was off in the corner, committing himself to the shadows.  
  
"Yeah, I'm still here," he said, stepping into the light with a hopeful look, clearly thinking that her declaration of hatred was just a side effect of her condition. She fixed him with a death glare, though directing her words to Ethan and Hayley. "Get him out of here."  
  
"Kira--" Hayley started, but Kira cut the older woman off. "I said get him out. I don't want him anywhere near me."  
  
"Hales, let me talk to Kira for a minute, okay?" Ethan said. "You and Conner can go upstairs."  
  
"Fine," Hayley said, surprise still in her eyes. The two vacated, and Kira refused to meet Ethan's eyes. "Say what you have to say, and get it over with," she said bitingly.  
  
"Girl, what happened between you two? Was it the girl that Conner was talking about?"  
  
"She's a vapid little whore," Kira said. "Come to think of it, so is he."  
  
"Oh, come on, Kira, you don't mean that."  
  
"Like hell I don't."  
  
"So he was _maybe_ flirting with some girl. Does that come as a surprise to you? At _all_?" She didn't meet his eyes, confirmation of her agreement. "So why the freak out?" he said. "Think about it...Conner flirts with a girl --not that I'm saying he was, you understand, just as an example-- and then you get wiggy. Only one explanation I can think of for someone doing that..." he let his voice trail off suggestively.  
  
"You're not saying that--" she shook her head. "No. No _way_. I'm not jealous."  
  
"You're _so_ jealous," he said with a tiny grin.  
  
Kira snorted. "That is such crap, Ethan. You can't be serious."  
  
"I'm serious. Face it. Whether you like it or not, you can't deny the fact that you've got it bad for Conner McKnight."  
  
"I do not have it _bad_ for _anyone_," she said. "We're stopping this line of conversation." She swung her legs off the edge of the cot and started to get up.  
  
"No, Kira, we aren't," Ethan said firmly, pushing her back down, but not meanly. "Because your dreams haven't been about us dying, they've been about Conner dying. Conner dying, and you stricken with grief, so upset that you had Dr. O. modify your morpher because you thought that maybe it was your fault he was dead. You wake up screaming, you're unable to control your powers, and suddenly you have repercussions because you see Conner talking to someone. Kira, I don't think that this condition of yours has anything to do with your Dino Gem or your Ranger status. I think it has everything to do with the fact that you love Conner, only you're not willing to accept it."  
  
"What, so my own mind is acting against me, trying to make me say that I 'love' him by taking him away from me?"  
  
"Exactly," Ethan said.  
  
"That doesn't make any sense, Ethe."  
  
"It makes perfect sense. If you just admit that you maybe like Conner more than as just a friend --I'm not saying you have to go all chick flick, profess your undying love or anything like that-- then maybe this will all stop. Maybe the dreams will stop, maybe you can get control of your powers again." He sighed. "C'mon, Kira, it's worth a shot. Isn't it? Or would you rather spend forever passing out at bad times and waking up screaming? And if you're not willing to do this for your own good, at least do it for the good of the team. Because you used your powers on school grounds today, Kira, in front of a lot of people. I know you had no control, and it's not your fault, but that doesn't erase the fact that a lot of people saw and heard and now there are questions that we don't have good answers to."  
  
He was right. Kira didn't like any of this, but she knew he was right. It would be good for her, it would be good for the team, if she could just figure out some way to stop this. And if that meant telling Conner something...well, she'd do it. For the Rangers. For her own sanity. Because she was sick of feeling like a stranger in her own body. "Get him," she said quietly.  
  
"It'll be okay, Kira," he said, giving her a quick hug. "It seems scary, but Conner isn't a bad guy."  
  
"Right," she said, and then watched Ethan go upstairs to fetch Conner. She could just run…there were other exits. She could morph, take her Raptor Cycle, and get the hell out. She had time. Yeah, that's what she would do. She stood up, feeling strengthened by the fact that she had a plan, and started over to the Cycle holding cell.  
  
"Kira?"  
  
Caught in the act. She turned to see Conner standing there, and she tried to pretend like she hadn't just been attempting to escape. Not that Conner would come to that conclusion, anyway. "Ethan said you wanted to talk to me. Um...should I morph, or something, so that any objects you hurl at me don't do any serious damage? I don't think Dr. O. would be too thrilled if you killed me..." He looked truly nervous, and Kira felt an odd rush of sympathy coursing through her.  
  
"We need to talk about a few things," she said, staying where she was. They were at opposite sides of the room, neither of them seeming willing to get closer.  
  
"Look, I'm really sorry about...whatever it was that I did."  
  
"No, let me talk first," she said. "Because we're trying to heal me here, so I should say my things. See, about that girl...I was jealous."  
  
His jaw dropped. "You're kidding, right?"  
  
"God, I wish." She sighed. "I was stupidly, irrationally jealous because you were smiling at her, and not at me. Which is absolutely ridiculous."  
  
"Wait...so you don't...like...you don't _like_ me or something, do you?" he said.  
  
"I don't know. I mean, well, Ethan thinks I do, he thinks that my whole illness thing isn't a psychic thing, he thinks it's my way of telling myself that maybe I have feelings for you or something. I don't know why I ever would, though, because you're an egotistical jerk, you're a complete burden on society, you're--"  
  
"Yeah, I'm definitely feeling the love," Conner said dryly.  
  
"Don't say that word around me," she threatened.  
  
"What, love? I don't know why you care. You hate me, remember? I know that you meant what you said. I'm sorry that you're sick, I really am, but this is all..."  
  
Kira stalked across the room to him and kissed him on the mouth, hard. Just to see what it felt like, but she was too angry and too confused to even pay attention to it, much less appreciate it. He gaped at her like a fish out of water when she pulled away.  
  
"_What_ just happened here?" he said.  
  
"I don't know. The thing is, you just make me so damn mad sometimes. You have no idea. But when I saw you dying...it was like a part of me was dying with you. It wasn't just grief that I'd lost a teammate, it wasn't just sadness that I lost a friend...it was something deeper than that, something sharper. And when I saw you and that girl..." She sighed, pushing her bangs off of her forehead with her hand and scratching vigorously at her scalp as though it would help make her thoughts clearer. "I flew off the handle. Ethan's right. I feel something for you, Conner, and these past few days...you've made me feel so, I don't know, _safe_. I would wake up terrified, feeling like a stranger in my own skin, and all you had to do was be there and you helped ground me, helped bring me back from wherever it was that I was. Dr. O. couldn't do that. Ethan couldn't do that. Only you, Conner, I relied on you. You were so sweet to me, and so nice, and when I saw you with that girl, it was like you were abandoning me. You were smiling at someone that wasn't me, and I didn't know what to do if I didn't have you to bring me back around. It was like if you were around her, you wouldn't help me, and I'd be lost forever. Is that love? I don't know. But whatever I feel for you is pretty strong, and I'm having a hard time dealing."  
  
Kira sat back down on the cot. She was out of words. Explaining what was going on inside her head was a task that was beyond her, since she couldn't even begin to puzzle it out herself.  
  
He sat next to her, and after a pause, put his arm around her shoulders. She found herself leaning into him, drawing from him. "Kira...you mean a lot to me. And I've been so worried about you lately, because you're the strongest person I know, and I hate seeing you like this. And I keep wishing there was something I could do to help, but I'm not smart like Ethan and Hayley and Dr. O. All I've really got going for me, all I can really offer you is my support and my care. I'm always going to be here for you, or at least I'm going to try. If you want me to."  
  
"I do," she said. "You mean a lot to me, too."  
  
They sat in silence for awhile, thinking over the things they'd said to each other and the things that had been said to them. "That girl you mentioned last ni--yesterday?" she asked.  
  
"You," he coughed, looking away.  
  
"Oh." She wasn't sure how she felt about this, but decided that ultimately, she was pleased.  
  
"Hey, um...why'd you kiss me?" Conner said finally.  
  
She shrugged. "I don't know."  
  
"Could we maybe, I don't know, try it again?"  
  
It wouldn't kill her, she thought. "Okay." She leaned in, and felt his lips on hers. She closed her eyes, it was soft and gentle, not like her frantic mashing of the mouths. For the first time in two days, Kira felt utterly fine. There was no haze, no fog, no tiredness, no lingering confusion. She felt like herself. No, better than herself--she felt incredibly _alive_.  
  
They separated, Conner's arm still around her shoulders, and she was staring into his brown eyes. "Thank you," she said. "For everything. For taking care of me, for being nice to me when I probably didn't deserve it, for being there for me, for--for everything."  
  
"You're welcome," he said. "And Kira, this is going to sound sappy, but thanks for being you. Because you came into my life, and you made it...you made me more than what people think I am," he said finally. "So thanks."  
  
She smiled, cheered by his words. Next thing she knew, she was kissing him again. His arm felt good, warm, as it crossed her back, and her hand ruffled the edges of his beloved hair. He liked that, she thought, feeling him smile against her lips. This felt...it felt right. How could she have denied that she felt something for him? How could she have done anything that delayed this?  
  
"Kira, how are you doing? Oh..."  
  
Frantically Conner and Kira broke apart, because Dr. O. had just walked into the lab. He looked nothing short of flabbergasted at the sight that had greeted him, and Kira felt her face burning. Conner's arm drooped, sagging down to her waist before he quickly removed it and folded his hands in his lap. Ethan and Hayley were hot on the teacher's heels. "I'm sorry, guys," Ethan said, "I tried to keep him out of here, but..." Ethan took in how close his fellow Rangers were sitting, how red Kira's face was, how Conner moved jerkily, how they steadfastly refused to look at each other, and he got it. "_Oh_."  
  
"I don't get it..." Hayley said.  
  
Dr. O. coughed embarrassedly, but Ethan grinned. "You two kissed, didn't you," he said, nodding knowingly.  
  
"They _what_?" Hayley said.  
  
"That was...um...I..." Dr. O. shook his head. "Okay. I'm not sure what I'm supposed to...how are you feeling, Kira?"  
  
"Better," she admitted, with a small grin.  
  
"You _what_?" Hayley tried again.  
  
"I think maybe we fixed the problem," Kira said. "Thanks to Ethan."  
  
"You mean I had nothing to do with it?" Conner said, and she wasn't sure if he was actually disappointed or faking it. Kira just rolled her eyes at him.  
  
"I'm missing something, aren't I," Dr. O. said.  
  
"You and me both," Hayley said.  
  
Going into any further detail would most likely scar her for life from the embarrassment of it all, so she wisely refrained, and said simply, "I think I finally conquered my problem."  
  
"Well, congratulations," Tommy said.  
  
"I still don't see what any of this has to do with you and Conner kissing..." Hayley began, then looked at Ethan, back at the Yellow and Red Rangers, and seemed to figure it out. "Oh, that makes sense."  
  
"I'm confused."  
  
"It comes with being a guy," Hayley said. She patted on Dr. O.'s arm. "C'mon, let's go. I need to get back to work, and I'm sure you have papers to grade. Let the kids do their thing."  
  
As the adults vacated, Ethan glanced to his teammates. "So, are you two going to be all sick and lovey-dovey and stuff? 'Cause if that's how' it's gonna be, I'm gonna have to join forces with Mesogog."  
  
"Dude, don't be an idiot," Conner said, hopping off of the cot and punching Ethan lightly in the arm.  
  
"Coming from you, that's a laugh."  
  
Kira smiled to herself as she watched the two of them banter. Definite normalcy there, and that showed promise.  
  
Then the alarm sounded. "Oh, crap," Conner said, and yelled up the stairs, "Dr. O.! Trouble!" as Ethan took a seat at the console. "It's Elsa, she's downtown," he announced.  
  
Dr. O. rushed in and leaned over Ethan's shoulder. "Elsa only comes out of hiding if there's an egg," he said. "We better get moving."  
  
The four of them lined up in front of the console, Dr. O. and Conner in the center, Kira on Conner's side, and Ethan next to Dr. O. "DinoThunder, power up!" they yelled simultaneously, activating the morphers and appearing in their uniforms. Kira felt the slightest twinge in her stomach--something about this seemed familiar. 


	7. 7

Disclaimer: no one mentioned belongs to me, I guarantee it.

* * *

They didn't bother making their arrival quiet, and almost immediately, Elsa employed a team of Tyrannodrones to go after them. They swarmed around the four, but the Rangers were managing to keep them at bay. "I'm going after Elsa," Conner announced when he had cleared a way for him out of the circle.

Dr. O. ducked as a drone went for his head. "You're not going in alone."

"She's gonna get the egg, Dr. O.! Besides, I've gone against her _and_ Zeltrax by myself before. I'll be fine. You guys can handle the drones."

"Conner--" Dr. O. started, but the younger man was already running off. Rangers Black, Blue, and Yellow were under siege by a throng of drones. "Kira, go after him!" Dr. O. said, getting out his Brachio Staff and clonking it against a drone's head. "Ethan and I will be fine."

Kira had her reservations about this arrangement, but she wasn't about to argue with the man. She ran off after Conner, who racing Elsa for the egg down a wide alley. The prize was located between two dumpsters, glowing. Elsa had the head start, and Kira reached for her blaster before remembering that Dr. O. had modified her morpher so that it wasn't there anymore. Conner was well ahead of her though, and was already aiming when Elsa scooped up the egg.

He fired immediately, and the blast hit her in the side, sending her and the egg flying in opposite directions. Conner dove for the egg, but the blaster fell from his hands. "Conner!" Kira yelled, but he didn't hear. This was all happening instantaneously, only a few seconds had passed since Kira had first ran to the mouth of the alley. The blaster was in Elsa's line of sight, only a few feet away from the villainess. She was getting to her feet, she was reaching for it...

"Oh, I do not _think_ so," Kira said. "Ptera Grips!" Weapons in hand, she charged, all flurried fury as she sliced into Elsa's arm.

"You little witch," Elsa snarled, grabbing her wound with her good hand, and then delivering a high kick to Kira's chest which caught the Yellow Ranger by surprise and knocked her down.

Kira was crumpled on the pavement, the wind knocked out of her. The first blast made her look up sharply, and saw the smoldering remains of the egg in Conner's hand. It had been incinerated; apparently if Elsa couldn't have it, no one could. Conner was trapped between the dumpsters, nowhere to go, and Elsa advanced, firing once, twice. Conner went down, and she fired again as he tumbled to the ground, the third blast enough to weaken him to a state that he lost his morph. Elsa winced, she was firing with her injured arm, and it was too painful for her to take one last shot. But the Red Ranger seemed to be down for the count, unmoving. With the slightest of congratulatory smirks, Elsa discarded the blaster, and portaled her way back to Mesogog's fortress. She'd lost the egg, but the Rangers had lost one of their own, and that seemed a fair exchange.

Kira powered down and was at Conner's side in an instant. She pressed her fingers to his wrist and then to his neck, and felt the throb of his pulse. "Conner, no, please, Conner, wake up," she murmured, more to herself than to him. She had a feeling that it was too late...

_No_.

"Conner, wake up. Now. This isn't how it ends. _Conner_," she said, pushing at his shoulder.

His eyelids fluttered, then opened. "Did anyone get that license plate number?" he said. "God. What happened?"

"Elsa happened," she said, helping him to a sitting position.

"Yeah, yeah, I remember now," he said. "Dude, she _shot_ me." He patted at his torso, checking to see if everything was in order, and apparently decided that it was. "Did we save the egg?"

"Nope. It's gone."

"That sucks," he said.

"Only a little," she said. "I'm glad you're okay." She smiled at him, but he was frowning.

"Kira. This was the dream, wasn't it?"

"It was," she admitted. All too surprisingly accurate, except for this time, Kira had stepped in. She had wounded Elsa, preventing her from taking the final shot. She'd saved Conner's life. "But it's over now. It's really, really over. And everything turned out fine."

They stared at each other for a moment, before they slowly met in a kiss.

"How are you guys do--I've really got to stop doing that," they heard the defeated tone of Dr. O. behind them.  
  
"What did I say about doing that?" Ethan said, as he and the teacher powered down and joined them in the alley. "I said no making with the smooches in my presence."  
  
"What happened?" Dr. O. asked, grabbing Conner's hand and pulling him to his feet. Kira stood up and brushed off her knees. "Elsa got away," she said.

"Shot me all to hell," Conner said.

"Destroyed the egg," Kira contributed.

"But Kira saved my life," Conner added. "She changed the dream."

"So it _was_ prophetic," Ethan marveled. "I thought for sure it was psychological."

"I think it was a little bit of both."

"And you two are like..." Dr. O. said, nodding in place of actually saying it.

"Maybe," Kira said, flashing Conner a tiny smile.

"I'm going to let you two do your thing then," Dr. O. said. "And Ethan's coming with me." As he dragged the gamer off, Conner and Kira could hear their teacher saying, "I thought they hated each other."

"I thought we hated each other too," Kira muttered, turning to face Conner. She found herself suddenly being shy around him.

"Hey, thanks."

"For..?"

"Saving my life, duh," he said with a grin. "I'm supposed to be the idiot one, remember? Not you."

She slapped his arm. "Who are you calling an idiot?"

"Both of us, actually." His grin faded into a serious look. "But really, though, thanks."

Kira blushed, warmth flooding her cheeks, and the mere fact that she was blushing made her want to blush more, swamped in embarrassment. "Yeah. Well."

He stared at her. "So, are you going to kiss me again..?" he asked jokingly.

"I'm just waiting for Dr. O. to show up," she deadpanned.

He laughed. "I think he's long gone. So..." Conner shrugged, wearing a cute half-smile.

"You're, like, one of the most popular guys in school or something, and you have to beg for a girl to kiss you? How lame is that?"

"Well, a girl like you, I pretty much have to beg. You wouldn't look twice at me either way otherwise."

"Not true."

"I forget...you get jealous over soccer groupies now."

"You keep teasing me, and not only am I _not_ going to kiss you, but I'm going to make sure there's nothing there to kiss."

Conner laughed hard, harder than she thought was necessary. "Looks like you're back to your old self. And that's just the way I like you--evil and mean."

"Hey, watch how you use the term 'evil,'" she said seriously. "After everything."

"Right, right," he said. "Hey, have I thanked you for that yet?"

"Only a couple of times."

"Okay. How about one more." And he kissed her, she kissed him back, uninterrupted by Dr. O. at last. It was awhile before they broke apart, and they were both grinning like idiots. Kira didn't feel like her normal self, but this time it was a welcome change. She tightened her arms, wrapped around his neck. Even though she was the one that had saved Conner's life, she felt safe around him. Whole.

"C'mon, we better get back to the lab before Elsa decides to come back and finish what she started," Conner said.

"I think she's pretty much done for the day," Kira said. "I kind of kicked her butt."

"Well, she might send Zeltrax, so we should go anyway." He took her hand and squeezed it tightly, leading her out of the alley and into the bright sunshine, into a bright new chapter of her life.

* * *

There you go, kiddies! The last chapter, and my girl gets her happy ending. I hope you enjoyed reading it as much as I thoroughly enjoyed writing it (especially chapter 6!!!). See you next time around!

-Karasuma Firestorm


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